Rep. Eagle’s town hall meeting Thursday

January 28, 2014

Cape Coral residents will have an opportunity this week to share their ideas and concerns with their state representative in the Florida House in advance of the upcoming 2014 legislative session.

State Rep. Dane Eagle, R-Cape Coral, is hosting an annual pre-session town hall meeting Thursday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., in the auditorium at Gulf Coast Village. The intent is to provide constituents in District 77, which covers the Cape, a forum to share information about the regular session in March.

"Just providing an open forum - easy access to their representative," Eagle said Tuesday.

House Speaker Will Weatherford is expected to roll out his proposed agenda for the session today. Eagle plans to talk about the overall agenda at the meeting Thursday, as well as his own goals.

Eagle cited $500 million in tax cuts for Floridians as a big item on the agenda, noting that Thursday is an opportunity for him to discuss with residents different proposals on how to implement the cuts.

"How they would like to see that returned to them," he said.

Fact Box

If you go

What: Annual pre-session

town hall meeting

Who: Rep. Dane Eagle,

R-Cape Coral, who

represents District 77

in the Florida House

When: Thursday,

5:30-6:30 p.m.

Where: Auditorium at Gulf

Coast Village, 1333

Santa Barbara Blvd.

Redoing the Jimmy Ryce Act and focusing on the Second Amend-ment Preservation Act are also priorities on Eagle's agenda, along with a building codes bill and restitution for juvenile offenders.

He cited drug testing of public officials as a possible focus, as well.

"We're working on a pretty broad agenda," Eagle said.

He hopes to listen and learn at Thursday's meeting and take the public input to Tallahassee.

"Bring anything that they're concerned about to my attention," he advised attendees.

After winning the District 77 seat, Eagle held an open house and similar town hall meeting before the 2013 legislative session. His staff estimated that between 50 and 75 people stopped by the event.

Eagle is expecting the same turnout Thursday, maybe a few more faces.

"The more, the merrier," he said.

Limited government, limited spending and limited taxes are likely to be the focus for residents.

"I think that the fiscal issues are usually the most important," Eagle said, referring to concerns voiced by the public. "They want to make sure that government is our of their lives."

Health care is also an issue, especially so now with Obamacare and the expansion of Medicaid.